Epson CX6600 - Does a cart change/recharge do a head clean

[Mike News]

Problem:
Black printing was very faint, despite the ink level being 80%
I couldn't do a head clean, because the yellow ink level was too low
Now I've changed the yellow cart, and it's done its recharging business,
black printing *seems* fine.

Question:
Is this recharging the same as doing a head clean also. I look after my
printer using proper cartridges and don't mind doing a head clean if I
have to - but don't want to do an unnecessary one given the amount of
ink it uses

TIA and Happy Christmas

 

[Jan Alter]

Problem:
Black printing was very faint, despite the ink level being 80%
I couldn't do a head clean, because the yellow ink level was too low
Now I've changed the yellow cart, and it's done its recharging business,
black printing *seems* fine.

Question:
Is this recharging the same as doing a head clean also. I look after my
printer using proper cartridges and don't mind doing a head clean if I
have to - but don't want to do an unnecessary one given the amount of ink
it uses

TIA and Happy Christmas

When you install a new cartridge the print head will push ink through all
cartridges for its charging process. That's why when you look at the status
monitor afterwards you'll notice that the ink levels in the other three
colors have dropped. And that's why if you had a color that was additionally
very nearly empty as you replaced the cartridge you will notice another
flashing red light for the other color shortly after the recharge has taken
place. Yes, the recharge is like a head cleaning, and a heavy duty one at
that.
Your machine uses the Dura-brite inks unfortunately, which have a
propensity to eventually clog your printer because of the nasty quick drying
recipe that Epson concocted four years ago, and should have changed, but
didn't. If you wanted to do yourself and your printer a favor to make it
last longer you might consider going to a third party, good quality dye-base
ink rather than use the pigment Dura-brite 'poison' that will eventually do
it in, as it's done for five C84 printers that we use at school, and two
that I purchased for my kids at home. And that's only my experience. I'm
sure there are thousands more.
It's interesting to note that Epson changed the formula when they came
out with the C88 model to Dura-brite Ultra. I would conjecture that Epson
realized how they were killing their printers with their own ink too fast
and decided to remedy the situation by finally coming up with a pigment
formula that was less damaging to the newer models to make them last longer.

 

[Mike News]

When you install a new cartridge the print head will push ink through all
cartridges for its charging process. That's why when you look at the status
monitor afterwards you'll notice that the ink levels in the other three
colors have dropped.

Thanks for this and the other information! I did try to remember the
before and after levels from the status panel, but I am sure some didn't
appear to go down

I will bear it in mind to not use Dura Brite cartridges for future
printers, but for now, mine seems fine with the use it gets

Cheers

 

[Arthur Entlich]

The most ink is used when you first put the ink cartridges into a new
printer. The initial recharge after a cartridge change uses more ink
than a cleaning cycle. It wastes quite a bit of ink because all
cartridges go through the same process, since the whole head is engaged.

There are several different intensities of cleaning cycles that occur
depending on how many you do in a row. If you do a nozzle check between
each cleaning cycle it increases the intensity up to about 4 steps, and
each uses a bit more ink.

If you get a particularly difficult clog, an underhead cleaning may be
more effective. Ink does tend to build up on the heads which can lead
to clogged nozzles.

Art